Ashton Gainsford, a James Cook University marine biology PhD student, and Dr Nicole Webster, a principal research scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, have been chosen among medical doctors, physicists, astronomers and microbiologists, to participate in the program.

"We're all connected through this one goal — to raise the profile of climate science and empower women along the way to be leaders and stay in science," Ms Gainsford said.

A 2016 report by the Office of the Chief Scientist found women made up less than one-fifth of Australians qualified in STEM, and continued to be paid less than their male counterparts.

"Women make up at least half of the workforce," Ms Gainsford said.

"And they're over-represented in the world's most economically disadvantaged [workforces], which are going to be the people who are really affected by this big change that's happening to the climate and the world."

Antarctica warming more rapidly

The three-week Homeward Bound trip will depart Ushuaia, Argentina in December, and reach west Antarctica four days later — a region that is reportedly warming more rapidly than many places on the planet.

Ms Gainsford said while the location would provide critical insights into climate change, it was also a sight likely to capture the attention of the international community.

"It's a strategic leadership program that is going to run with the backdrop of Antarctica, which just happens to be the fastest warming region in the world," she said.

"So it's essentially the clickbait for these two very big important messages that we're trying to get across."

'A white wonderland'

For some, Antarctica is a vast foreign land of bleak white landscapes and rare animals.

But for Dr Webster, Antarctica is a familiar sight.

In the early 2000s, Dr Webster spent four months at the South Pole studying the microorganisms that live inside corals and sponges, and contribute to the corals' health or disease.

Dr Webster said it had been a magical experience.

"We flew down to Antarctica as a part of the research project I was in, and you basically are on a military aircraft where you don't have windows, so the aircraft opens and you're just in that white wonderland," she said.

"It was incredibly cold and that was something very difficult for me, coming from Townsville at about plus 35 degrees, landing in Antarctica at about minus 35 degrees, but it was incredibly beautiful."

Interested in the marine environment, Dr Webster's research gave her team the opportunity to drill holes through three metres of ice, and go scuba diving.

"Under the ice, everything is so incredibly beautiful because you have chandeliers of ice and the most incredibly coloured sponges and soft coral," she said.

Inspiring female leaders

Dr Webster said while she had personally felt very supported by women and men in her career, she was not protected from the challenges females faced in the field of science.

"It's very difficult when you're a middle-aged woman in science and you're often juggling," she said.

"I have three small children, and have these competing demands on my time.

"I've really tried to just focus on having a successful science career and raising a wonderful family, and not taking some of these other opportunities that may have come my way in terms of leadership."

This desire for leadership was the lesson Dr Webster said she hoped to learn from Homeward Bound.

"I want to take the next step and look beyond my specific science projects and actually find a path where I can make a bigger difference to a large number of people by still maintaining a work-life balance," she said.